Is there really any way to stop a dragon from grabbing someone, flying really high up, and then dropping them? Other than having a very good CMD nothing really strikes me other than maybe flight spells or the like.
Freedom of Movement.
It's actually pretty difficult for a dragon to pull this off and not all that rewarding. He needs to succeed at a total of 4 checks.
Round 1: Grapple opponent (1), opponent gets turn to escape (2)
Round 2: Make grapple check to move target at half speed (3), opponent gets grapple check at +4 for being moved into dangerous terrain (4).
Congratulations, an adult dragon has just moved a target 50 ft upwards (half speed x2). If they now let go they do an unimpressive 5d6 damage - or they can continue to rise at 50ft per round for a total of 20d6 damage after 4 rounds and a total 14 possibilities for the opponent to escape. Better to just make a full attack with claws or use breath weapon.
Note the way that the grapple rules are laid out means you can't use flyby attack to move the target on the same turn as the original grapple.
You'd need rapid grapple to pull it off. Personally I'd allow grapple to work with flyby attack. Rule of cool.
It's actually pretty difficult for a dragon to pull this off and not all that rewarding. He needs to succeed at a total of 4 checks.
Pretty much this. Honestly, grappling should be a Dragons last resort. Or if he has eliminated all but 1 opponent.
The older dragons have much more up their sleeve, namely the ones that corresponds to their element/environment. We actually had a very rough time dealing with an Ancient White Dragon ("Old White Death"), namely due to his ability that allows him to perceive through snow/blizzards. Coupled with the localized blizzard aura he possessed, he was nigh invulnerable; no line of sight, treacherous walking conditions inside, and a nightmare to think about flying thru and engaging him.
Abilities like that are what make dragons tough. Being grappled was the least of our worries. Although now that I recall, our Fighter was abducted at the end of combat, and cast off the side of the mountain on which Old White Death dwelled. He survived only because of his Boots of Levitation.
Agreed. I use stunts like this to demonstrate a poorly organized combatant. Unfortunately, too many of the 'nifty' abilities fail to scale fast enough to be effective or require too many tics to be even marginal. Just being a flying tank with HP and funky abilities will not solve all the world's problems.
Agreed. I use stunts like this to demonstrate a poorly organized combatant. Unfortunately, too many of the 'nifty' abilities fail to scale fast enough to be effective or require too many tics to be even marginal. Just being a flying tank with HP and funky abilities will not solve all the world's problems.
I've always felt that Dragon CR ratings are off... like, the CR listings should be lower, by two points at least (meaning older dragons are encountered).
It works better for black dragons in swamps. Yeah it's hard to manage that many successful checks in a row, but dragging the party fighter below the murky, vision blocking depths is great action economy while it lasts, since it nullifies 3+ enemy's offense entirely
Step 1: Be a Red Dragon.
Step 2: Snatch pesky adventurer.
Step 3: Plunge into lava.
Step 4: ?????
Step 5: Profit!!!
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Its more advantage to do as some others listed:
Use the surrounding environment to your advantage.
Red dragons can drag someone into lava and hold them in a grapple while they Burn/drown.
White Dragons might drag someone into freezing waters.
Black dragons into murky waters
But the true Strength of a dragon is....well it's Strength.
Best tactic I have seen was a white dragon. He used Blizzard to create hazardous conditions and very hard to see. Then he dive bombed using the breath weapon in a fly-by attack...after the breath weapon hits then it fly-by close enough for the Fear aura to hit everyone in the group.
After the ones effected by fear broke away from the group he picked them off while others struggled to see anything.
Grabbing someone and taking them 400+ feet up and dropping them have a few problems:
So many chances for them to escape
Grapple or Natural attack builds being targeted (Thank you for Coming to them.)
Anything with Fly, Feather fall, Air Walking, Quicken Dimension Door, Freedom of Movement, Grease, Linety of Escape
Plus it wastes lots of turns that the other group members can still target a flying dragon. The dragon could easily be put into the dirt in a few rounds by the archer who he failed to grab (or Smiting Paladins)
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Best tactic I have seen was a white dragon. He used Blizzard to create hazardous conditions and very hard to see. Then he dive bombed using the breath weapon in a fly-by attack...after the breath weapon hits then it fly-by close enough for the Fear aura to hit everyone in the group.
After the ones effected by fear broke away from the group he picked them off while others struggled to see anything.
I'm going to have to remember this!
I was reminded of a green dragon we stupidly hunted. The *^%@ had a mirror image and something that seriously trashed our ability to spot him in a thicket. Then came the forest version of blizzard swirling us with all the debris in the area. The Barbarian and I back-to-backed out, the Gnome 'locksmith' invisible between us. The 'morons three' walked under the tree the dragon was hiding in and it got ugly fast. The Gnome finally slipped into position and stuck the greenie in a tender part. Dragon spun an gave my crit fighter an AoO and I clocked it for70+ points and massive damage almost got it. NP, the Barb nailed him and severed the head.